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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Sainte-Catherine hermitage, classified as a historical monument in 1987, is a medieval troglodytic site dug in the limestone cliff of Lormont, on the right bank of the Garonne River. Its origin dates back to at least the ninth century, with an occupation by hermits in a natural casing, but its first archival mention dates from 1386. Dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, patron saint of the sailors, it was a place of devotion for the pilgrims of Santiago, the women coming to make vows, and the sailors depositing ex-votos. Its history is linked to that of the Carmes de Bordeaux, which took possession of it in 1446.

In the 15th century, the hermitage was renovated with the construction of a vault for the chapel and other buildings, now destroyed. He suffered a fire in 1570 during the Wars of Religion, then was usurped by a secular clergyman at the end of the sixteenth century before being recovered by the Carmelites in 1614. A major restoration took place between 1665 and 1671, financed by Arnaud de Pontac, the first president of the Bordeaux Parliament, and his widow Louise de Thou. The site was then equipped with a chapel decorated with a sculpted altarpiece depicting the mystical wedding of Saint Catherine, hermit cells, and a fountain rebuilt in the 17th century.

In the 17th century, the hermitage housed spiritual figures such as Maur de l'Enfant-Jésus, province of the Carmelites, who lived there for twenty years (1671-1690) and wrote part of his work. After its gradual abandonment from the 18th century, it was sold as a national property in 1791, and then partially destroyed by collapses and the construction of the Bordeaux-Paris railway in the 19th century. The ruins, including graves and collapsed rooms, were restored in the 1980s by the Association Les Amis du Vieux Lormont, which brought to light bones and coins. Today, the site is a public park with views of the Garonne.

Architecturally, the hermitage consists of five troglodytic zones: the chapel (zone 2), with its broken cradle decorated with vegetal caissons and its baroque altarpiece; two side rooms communicating with her; a vaulted cellar (zone 3); an underground corridor (zone 4); and a tank room (zone 5). Interior decorations, such as floral caissons and the Carmes shield, date back to the seventeenth century. The fountain, rebuilt between the shelters, has niches and mouldings characteristic of the era.

The site illustrates the importance of river hermitages in medieval Guyenne, linked to maritime activities and pilgrimages. Its decline is explained by religious conflicts, landscape transformations (railway, urbanization), and post-revolutionary secularization. Despite its state of ruins, it remains a rare testimony of monastic rock architecture in New Aquitaine, associated with characters such as Maur de l'Enfant-Jésus and Arnaud de Pontac.

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